Paying for dirt

It started back in the early 70s when Mr. Jimmy Kilpatrick told me that I needed “soft water.” He said that the squeaky-clean feeling on my skin was actually a residue and I wasn’t as clean as I could be. We lived in the country and had a deep-water well for our household and other needs. So it began — I was paying for water, something I grew up thinking would always be provided for free by Mothe…